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I got my life back

A 45- year old woman, Mrs. Souad lost her husband and currently lives with her son and daughter in-law. Her son is her only provider and she cannot live independently.
Souad was one of the visitors to Al-Farah Center in Adra, participating in the center’s campaigns. During one of the campaigns that addresses psychological violence, she opened up her heart, sharing one of the many difficulties she was going through. She spoke about being rejected as an elderly in the family.
Afterwards, the lady was interviewed in private to explain her situation. After the death of her husband, she faced a lot of pressure and suffered from constant fatigue. She always felt uncomfortable at home. Her daughter in-law mistreated her, avoiding speaking or sitting with her. Her son hardly provided the family’s basic needs, suffering from a financial hardship. He verbally abused his mother negatively criticizing her and bombarding her with cruel words, whenever she dressed up or picked up bright color clothes… Souad felt that she was a heavy burden.
Being under constant pressure, Souad’s psychological wellbeing was jeopardized and she suffered from depression. She experienced loss of appetite, constant feeling of grief, and sleeping disorder. She always said, “Life has no meaning, I no longer enjoy it.”
We proposed referring Souad to the psychologist and explained the type of service she would receive. Upon agreeing to our proposal, the journey began:
We worked on psychologically empowering the lady, teaching her the correct ways of communicating with her son and daughter in-law, and helping her out of the depression. We also enrolled her in the livelihood program to support her in learning a vocation to effectively invest her time and provide for herself.
Souad was one of the participants of the sewing course in the center. It was visible that the lady had a strong will and was very cooperative.
Her behavior swiftly and positively progressed, in no time she became more interactive with the participants. One day, Souad brought her daughter in-law to the center and expressed being proud of her! The noticeable improvement of their relationship was a nice surprise.
The lady overcame her depression. Positively speaking about life, she enjoyed the course and valued the time she spent. Having a purpose in life, Souad aims to progress in sewing and start her home- based project.
We worked for three months with Souad and within that short span of time, she radically changed, repeatedly saying “I got my life back”. We were so happy to see her smile. Her smile gave hope to everyone!